A Very Torchwood Christmas Special
by narnian-starkid
Summary: A series of prompts and challenges for the Torchwood team at Christmas time. Features the whole team as they come up to Christmas, what challenges and fun might they have along the way? Rated T just to be safe (and because it's Torchwood).
1. Chapter 1: Christmas Tree

**This was meant to be my Christmas one-shot, but it turned into a prompt/challenge fic for Christmas. Each chapter will be a new day at Torchwood during the build-up to Christmas. I will be going away on the 16** **th** **of December (Australian time), so I will try to get chapters up before I leave, if not, some may have to wait until I get back on the 3** **rd** **of January. Hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to fave/follow/review and let me know what you thought!**

Chapter 1: Christmas Tree

 _Prompt: It's the first of December, and this means that the Christmas tree is going up. Unfortunately, nothing happens without mishap when it comes to Torchwood._

"Christmas time and bells are ringing, Christmas time and we're all singing 'Have a very merry Christmas day'" Gwen sang to herself as she opened the door to the tourist information centre, grateful that Ianto had already turned the heater on. Revelling in the rush of warm air, she sighed happily, shrugging off her outer coat, slinging it over her arm and entering the tunnel that led down into the main hub.

Descending into the tunnel that would take her down to the Hub, she continued whistling to herself, the festivity of the season putting her in an even cheerier mood than normal. When she reached the cog door, she glanced up at the workstations.

There was no one in sight.

Puzzled, Gwen cautiously strode into the Hub, eyes flickering around, as if searching for some unseen threat, footsteps unconsciously falling quieter with every step.

"Hello? Jack? Anyone?" she called, all trace of cheeriness gone from her voice. No one answered.

Walking over to her own workstation, Gwen set her bag down and dug out her earpiece. Popping it into place, she pressed the button, relieved when she heard the familiar crackle on the other end of the line which meant that someone else had their own earpiece turned on.

"Hello?" she asked again, more cautiously.

"Gwen? What are you doing here so early?" came Jack's surprised voice. He was panting as if he had been running, although Gwen could still hear the smile in his voice.

"It's 0800, when I'm supposed to come into work" she replied, rolling her eyes fondly.

"Uh, right. Hang on, Ianto and I are just bringing the Christmas tree up" was Jack's distant reply. Gwen felt her excitement return ten-fold at the mention of the Christmas tree.

"Ooh, do you want a hand bringing it up?" she asked, surprised when Ianto's voice dripped into the conversation.

"Thanks Gwen, but we're almost back. Give us a few more minutes."

Gwen smiled; it was never 'a few more minutes' whenever Jack was involved.

"Just don't take too long" she laughed, before switching off her earpiece.

She was surprised when the cog door rolled open at that moment and Tosh and Owen strode in together. Grinning widely at them in greeting, she stood and walked over to the door down into the basement, knowing that Jack and Ianto would be there shortly with the tree.

"Jack off having a last minute shag with Tea-Boy is he?" Owen asked, walking over to his workstation and switching his computer on.

"Don't be silly Owen, it's the first of December" Tosh replied, shrugging off her coat and draping it over the back of her chair.

"What's the first of December got to do with-" Owen began, but was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the basement door. Looking over, the team saw a green, prickly mass trying to push its way through the door – and not having a great deal of success.

"Jack, for the last time, it's not going to fit!" came Ianto's muffled shout from somewhere behind the mass.

"We got it up there last year!" Jack replied, sounding desperate yet determined.

Ianto rolled his eyes.

"It was a hell of a lot smaller then. I told you that we should just get a fake tree from the store: that way it wouldn't GROW!" he yelled.

"Having some trouble?" Owen chuckled, walking over to the tree, cheeky grin firmly plastered on his face. Tosh and Gwen stood back, shaking their heads and laughing silently.

"NO!" Jack yelled, at the same time that Ianto yelled "YES!"

"Right, well you've obviously worked out that you're not going to get the tree through that way. Got any other bright ideas, Jack?" Tosh asked, barely masking a giggle.

From behind the massive tree, Jack sputtered indignantly, clearly trying to defend his reasoning for bringing the real alien tree up from the basement to use as the Hub's Christmas tree. How was he to know that it would grow that much since last year?

"Why don't you two take that tree back down to the basement, while we go and buy a normal Christmas tree" Gwen suggested, grinning wider when further splutters could be heard from behind the tree, no doubt protesting at having to haul it all the way back down to the basement again.

"Good idea, why don't we all go?" Tosh added, turning and smiling at Owen, hoping that he would come along too. He shrugged, still chuckling.

"Why not? Gotta be better than being stuck here waiting for those two to work out how to move that tree again" he replied, grabbing his leather jacket back off his chair and jogging over to join the girls by the cog door.

"Be back soon Jack!" Gwen called, and with a whir of alarms, the cog door closed behind them.

Back behind the tree, Jack and Ianto shared a look.

"I can't believe they just left us here!" Jack exclaimed, but with more surprise than venom in his voice.

Ianto shook his head.

"Come on, let's hurry up and get this thing back down to the basement" he replied, before quietly adding "if it hasn't grown any more since we got it up here."

Jack heard though, and couldn't help but smile.


	2. Chapter 2: First Snow

**Hey all! Here is the second chapter, around twice as long as the previous one, so yay for that! Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed/faved/followed this so far, hope this chapter is up to scratch.**

 **Review replies from Ch 1 (at time of publishing)**

 **Sd4ianto: yes, they're so cheeky sometimes. Glad you liked it!**

 **ILoveJanto: I agree, he is, and Jack needs to remember that sometimes (he he he). Thanks friend!**

Chapter 2: First Snow

 _Prompt: The first snow of the festive season brings the promise of making snowmen, snow angels and maybe a few snow aliens too._

After the debacle with the Christmas tree the day before, it should have been clear to the Torchwood team that nothing about this Christmas would be anywhere close to normal. But of course, one wouldn't assume that the presence of snow would be anything odd.

"It's snowing!" came Gwen's cry as she walked into the Hub that morning. Jack and Ianto, who were over by the coffee machine sharing an early cup of hot chocolate, were startled and spun around to face the enthusiastic Gwen.

"What do you mean?" asked Jack, not really having been paying attention to what she had said.

Gwen grinned breathlessly at them, face red from the bitter wind outside.

"I said it's snowing! The first Christmas snow!" she repeated, grinning even wider and taking the coffee that Ianto passed her.

"Anyway, we should have a quiet day today, snow should keep the aliens from getting into too much mischief" Jack noted, taking a sip of his own steaming coffee. Ianto groaned and rolled his eyes.

"You do realise that you just jinxed it, don't you?"

Jack just winked at him, grinning cheekily.

The alarms sounding as the cog door opened turned all their gazes to the door, spying on the newcomer. Tosh walked in, shrugging off her coat and scarf, reaching over her desk and putting on her glasses, checking the rift monitor screen in front of her. Satisfied that there was nothing of note showing on the screen, she sighed happily and brushed the last remnants of snow out of her dark hair, gratefully taking the cup of hot coffee that Ianto had taken down to her.

"Thanks Ianto" she smiled, taking a delicate sip.

It was another half an hour or so until Owen showed up, grumbling under his breath as he shook a few lingering snowflakes out of his hair, slumping in his chair and wordlessly gulping the coffee that Ianto placed in front of him.

"Late night last night?" Ianto asked dryly, quirking an eyebrow.

"Something like that, yeah" Owen replied, digging two painkillers out of his jacket pocket. Ianto shook his head and was about to make some other comment when a sudden beeping from Tosh's computer broke the conversation, causing the team to turn in surprise. Tosh read through the contents quickly and spun around to face the others.

"Reports of some sort of snow creatures in a field just outside of Cardiff" she reported, grabbing her jacket and portable monitor.

Jack – already pulling on his greatcoat and tucking his Webley into its holster – led the way out to the SUV.

"I told you you'd jinxed it!" Ianto called after him, shaking his head.

TWTWTWTWTW

The snow was already ankle deep as they all clambered out of the warm SUV and into the deserted field, soaking their lower legs in the icy slush, chilling them through their layers of clothes.

"Welcome to winter in Wales" muttered Tosh, shaking a particularly large lump of snow off her leg.

"I swear this snow would be much more enjoyable if we were inside, curled up by a roaring fire, watching it fall" added Ianto, turning the collar of his coat up against the breeze.

"Oh, come on! What harm has a little snow ever done?" Gwen asked enthusiastically, practically bounding around the SUV to grin at them.

"Says you, you're used to it" Owen grumbled, shooting her a glare.

Gwen just rolled her eyes. What had happened to the cheery moods of the day before? Now, everyone was just grouchy. Well, except for Jack, was he ever not happy when it snowed?

Speaking of Jack….

"Over there!" the Captain called out, having spotted something over by the derelict hut on the far side of the field. Taking off at a run, coattails flapping in the frigid wind, Webley at the ready, the rest of the team was left standing in his wake, before they too began to run after him.

The creature looked up, stunned by the sudden shout, before turning and sliding away. It looked like it was on a conveyer-belt leading towards the far fence, it had no jarring of movement that one would normally associate with running or any similar movement, it just slid along the snow.

By the time any of the team were close to catch a proper glimpse of the creature, it seemed to have disappeared.

"Bollocks" Owen growled, out of breath.

"Where'd it go?" asked Tosh, glancing at her scanner, clearly trying to find some sort of abnormal energy or trace that could show where the creature had gone.

Jack, Gwen and Ianto raised their guns and glanced around, panting heavily and occasionally looking at Tosh, waiting for an answer.

She shook her head and met Jack's eyes.

"There's nothing, it's disappeared."

Ianto swore under his breath.

"Simple law of physics; nothing can just disappear" he panted, loosening his tie.

"Since when has physics applied to Torchwood?" Jack asked, not really expecting an answer. Turning to Gwen, he frowned.

"You okay, Gwen?"

Gwen didn't answer, she was staring at something over his shoulder, looking up at it with a mixture of surprise then determination with a flicker of fear in her eyes.

Owen caught the look as well and sighed.

"It's behind us isn't it?"

"Uh huh" Gwen replied, abruptly coming unfrozen and pulling out her gun and aiming it at the creature, sprinting away as it growled and slid back into the shed.

The rest of the team quickly followed suit, struggling to keep any sort of pace in the deeper snow.

"How're we supposed to go about catching a snow alien, anyway?" cried Ianto, pulling up beside Jack, who didn't answer.

They had chased the creature into a corner of the abandoned hut, and had it trapped. Tosh and Owen stood on Jack's right, while Gwen was on Ianto's left. All had their guns out and were ready to fire at the slightest sign of conflict.

"Please, just let me go" hissed the creature, a hole in its face (at least, it looked like a face, none of them were really sure) widening into a smile.

"And let you get on with all sorts of madness?" Jack growled, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"You're already spooking the locals, isn't that enough? Why don't you just leave?" Gwen asked, not really wanting to shoot the creature that stood before her.

"Because snow is all about having fun. And we need someone to have fun with: it's a bit hard to have fun with snow when that's all that you're made of" replied the creature, a subtle note of sadness creeping into its icy voice.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" queried Owen, frowning at the creature.

The creature turned to him, still smiling that icy, creepy smile.

"You don't."

"So, if you don't want to hurt anyone, then why are you here?" Tosh asked, feeling sorry for the lonely creature.

"As I said, no one we ever meet wants to play with us when it snows. They say we scare them, but all we want to do is to find someone who will play and have fun. We live alone all winter, only coming out when it snows, and no one wants to play with a creature made of snow" it replied, looking even sadder.

Jack slowly lowered his gun, still looking suspiciously at the creature.

"If all you wanted was to play, then why did you run away from us?"

The creature's expression turned sheepish, like a child who was about to be told off.

"I was afraid of you, and you surprised me. You were running towards me instead of away from me, like people usually do. I wasn't sure how to react, so I just tried to get away" it replied.

The team was silent for a moment, before Gwen walked over and put a gloved hand on the creature's arm.

"Don't worry, if you like, we will play with you" she said, giving the creature a kind smile, heart breaking as it looked up at her hopefully.

"Really? You really want to play with me?" it asked, sounding every bit like a lonely little child.

As Gwen nodded, she tapped Jack on the shoulder and sprinted away yelling "TAG!"

A very surprised Jack was left gaping in her wake. He turned to the rest of the team only to see them sprinting away into the distance. The creature was laughing happily, and he realised that it had been telling the truth, and shrugged as he ran after his friends.

TWTWTWTW

The game of tag lasted around an hour or so, with Jack claiming victory for the quickest catch. As they lay in the snow, side by side, as the afternoon wore on, it was cheery all around. The creature stood above them, smiling happily now, having enjoyed the game immensely. The team had no regrets about believing it now, and hoped that they wouldn't have to take the creature back with them to the Hub.

A bright light shining down through the dense snow clouds cut short their joy though. As it shone through, the creature looked up sadly.

"That's my ship" it mumbled, turning its face back to the team, who all stood abruptly.

"Oh no, do you have to go?" Gwen asked, genuinely disappointed. The creature smiled at her.

"It's alright, I'll come back next winter. I know that there are people who will play with us" it replied, smiling wider as Gwen grinned happily.

"Maybe you should play during the night though, don't want you scaring off the locals again" Jack joked, laughing as the creature giggled in agreement.

"Yes, I think that would be wise" it agreed.

The team exchanged their separate goodbyes with the strange creature, before it gave them all one last smile.

"Thank you, you've made me the happiest snow creature in the universe. I hope to see you all again."

The team gazed up at the sky with varying degrees of sadness, watching as the bright light slowly disappeared – taking their new snowy friend with it – and soft, delicate snowflakes began falling from the sky once more.

Owen was the first to speak.

"I can't believe we made friends with a freaking SNOW MONSTER!"

The absolute absurdity of the situation set the whole team laughing as they trudged back to the waiting SUV, keen to get home and out of the snow.

As they pulled away from the field and back onto the road, Jack glanced at his team in the rear view mirror and grinned.

"Well, you can't say we we'll forget this snow day in a hurry."

 **Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review!**


	3. Chapter 3: Secret Santa

**Hey everyone, so sorry this took so long to get out: we had a really bad storm that cut out our power and then internet was being a pain in the rear end, and then I had to battle uni assignments as well as a holiday case of writer's block. But never fear, the third chapter is here!**

 **Thanks to the reviewers from the last chapter, as well as those who have joined the follow/fave ranks!**

Chapter 3: Secret Santa

 _Prompt: Gift giving is always a challenge, and when you can't choose who you buy your gifts for, that makes it all the more fun._

It was probably because the Rift had been relatively quiet that morning, no one would ever know, but the team currently sat around the workstations, bored beyond belief. One might not think that there was such a lack of things to do when working for Torchwood, but it had happened today.

And of course, that same boredom had to be announced to all in attendance.

"You know, this is one of those rare times when I wish that something would happen"

The team fell silent, before Gwen spoke up from her station.

"What about a Secret Santa?"

Her response was a few curious looks from her teammates.

"Gwen, seriously? Isn't that something you do in primary school?" Owen asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

Gwen didn't answer. If anything, she seemed to get more enthusiastic about the idea.

"Oh come on, it will be fun! Sort of a team bonding exercise" she added, smiling as she looked at Tosh, who shrugged.

"I'm in" she said, turning to glance up at Jack, who had just come out of his office and now stood leaning against the door frame.

"Okay" he replied eventually, smiling as Gwen grinned wider at his response, and carefully ignoring Owen's exaggerated groan.

Ianto handed each team member a small square of paper, before taking one for himself and writing his name ever so neatly on it. As each person finished writing, the pieces of paper were folded in half and then in half again, before being put into an empty bowl. Placing a lid over the bowl, Ianto shook it to mix up the pieces of paper inside, and then offered to each person in turn.

Jack was first: his large hands stirring the paper around the bowl, further making the choice even more random. At last, he latched onto a folded paper and drew it out, opening it and scanning the name written on it. Ianto couldn't really gauge any sort of clues from his expression – Jack was frustratingly good at hiding his feelings from his face. He just smiled mysteriously when he caught Ianto's gaze, and gestured for him to move on and offer the bowl to the next person.

The next person was Gwen, who was quick to make her choice, practically plunging her hand into the bowl and out again in about two seconds flat. Ianto watched her closely as she opened the folded paper, knowing she was much easier to read than Jack. Sure enough, her eyes widened, and then quickly returned to normal, hiding a smile as she pocketed the paper in her coat. Ianto took that as his cue to move on.

Owen was the next person along, lounging in his chair, looking distinctly bored and clearly not wanting to participate. Ianto held the bowl in front of him, raising a careful eyebrow in a silent invitation. Owen's gaze softened ever so slightly as he sighed and raised an arm to reach into the bowl. He messed the remaining papers around for a few seconds before deciding on one and taking it out, reading it and putting the paper into the pocket of his lab coat. Ianto shrugged and moved on; Owen wasn't easy to read on most days, so he couldn't really expect to gauge anything clearly from him.

Last on his round was Tosh, who simply reached into the bowl and took out the first piece of paper that her fingertips touched. Her reaction was just as quick and simple: a slight widening of her eyes, then a tiny frown of thought appeared on her face, obviously already thinking about what to get her person.

That left just him, and as he tipped the final piece of paper into his hand, Ianto couldn't help but feel a tiny buzz of excitement. As he opened it and read the name on the paper, he felt a tiny amount of dread and a general sense of 'oh shit' creeping in as well. Still, he pocketed the paper and turned back to face the others.

"Look" said Jack, voice startling the team after a few minutes of silence "it's late and the Rift is quiet right now, and by the looks of things, will be quiet for a few days. Why don't you all go on home?"

Gwen, Owen, Tosh and Ianto all agreed, and began slowly gathering their things, all clearly thinking about other things. But as the team parted ways, everyone had only one thought in their minds:

 _What the hell do we do now?_

TWTWTWTW

Jack opened his piece of paper once more when he returned to his office, mulling his random choice over in his mind. If he had any say in who he would have to buy a present for, it would not have been the name that stared plainly back at him from the paper. He knew of this person's feelings towards him, and he was quite aware of his own feelings for them as well, which only complicated the matter at hand. What he didn't want was for this person to get the wrong idea with a gift that was too personal, but at the same time, Jack did want to get them a decent present. If only it wasn't Gwen.

TWTWTWTW

Gwen was still thinking about her Secret Santa as she got into her car at the end of the day. Having made the suggestion to do the Secret Santa in the first place, she really couldn't complain about her selection. It was just that she felt that she didn't really know the person all that well, and they barely had much to do with each other. She had a vague idea of their interests and what they liked, but she would still be shooting targets in a darkened alley with pinpointing those, let alone what they would like as a Christmas gift from a colleague. Still, she thought as she pulled out of the Hub garage, it could be worse, but if she had been given the option, she definitely wouldn't have chosen Ianto.

TWTWTWTW

Owen – for once – had gone straight home after work that day, not really feeling in the mood to go out for the night. Thoughts of the whole Secret Santa thing loomed in his mind, and he could barely stand to re-read the name on his piece of paper – which had stayed folded in the pocket of his jeans ever since the draw. Not because he was being a Scrooge (though the others may say that if asked, he thought with a tiny smile), but because this person was probably the worst person for him to have picked out of the whole team. This was someone who Owen felt awkward around at the best of times, mainly because he was aware of the attraction, but he was scared to reciprocate anything. He does feel some relief though, as he knows that they will appreciate whatever he were to give them. But maybe, he thought as he slumped down on his couch with a beer in hand, Tosh would appreciate anything anyone gave her, that's just who she was.

TWTWTWTW

Tosh was sat on the end of her bed, turning the small piece of paper over and over in her delicate fingers. She had been looking forward to this whole Secret Santa idea, but now that she had the name of her person in front of her, she wasn't feeling so sure. This was just such a hard person to buy for, not only because none of them knew anything about him, but because she felt that whatever she bought was not going to be good enough. Mind, she felt that way whenever she had to buy presents for anyone, so that wasn't really anything new. She wanted to get them something special, but unique: something that they wouldn't already have. Tosh sighed as she stood up and gathered her nightclothes, mind churning determinedly at the thought of a new challenge. One thing was certain: buying this 51st century humanoid immortal a suitable Christmas gift could be her biggest challenge yet.

TWTWTWTW

Ianto paced the length of his flat, mulling several thoughts over in his head. This could possibly be the worst choice for him to get for his Secret Santa. If he were to ask the rest of the team, he was sure that they would all say the same thing, except the person whom it was about of course. Actually, Ianto mused, the only other person worse than this to buy for would be Jack; at that moment, he wasn't jealous of the person who had picked their leader. Or maybe he was jealous, because he had wanted to get Jack something? Instead, he was stuck with the moodiest, second most unpredictable and possibly the most vocal member of the team. At that, he couldn't help as he re-read the name written in Owen's own untidy scribble: seems the myth that all doctors have terrible handwriting stood up in this case.


	4. Chapter 4: Good Ol' Saint Nick

Chapter 4: Good Ol' Saint Nick

 _Prompt: Ianto draws the short straw when Cardiff's Santa doesn't come into work. Jack was right though: red DOES look good on him._

"No."

"Come on Ianto, please? Imagine the looks on those kids faces when Santa doesn't turn up today. You have to do it!"

Ianto sighed as Jack begged; just shy of getting down on his hands and knees and pleading with him.

"Why don't you do it?" he asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

Jack pouted at him.

"Because the Santa costume won't fit me – trust me, we tried it one year – and plus, the kids can always pick me as a fake Santa" his pout turned into a nostalgic smile at the last part, momentarily lost in some memory or other.

Ianto cleared his throat, shaking him back to reality.

"Please Ianto?" Jack asked again, adding in the puppy eyes.

Ianto swallowed, trying so hard not to smile. He knew that Jack knew that he always gave in to that look.

"Oh alright, if only to stop you pestering me."

Jack grinned his wide, megawatt grin at him, eyes sparkling happily.

"Better get organised then, your shift starts in an hour."

The last of Ianto's coffee nearly came out his nose at that.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?!" he exclaimed, hurriedly pushing past Jack and pulling the Santa costume out of the box at Jack's feet.

Jack just laughed.

Dressed in the costume in record time, Ianto followed Jack out of the kitchen and into the main Hub.

"Well, well, well. So, Jack fobbed off the Santa duties to his chief elf in a suit?" Owen asked cheekily, lounging lazily on his chair by his desk.

"I could always dig out those reindeer antlers and the red nose again, Rudolph" he replied, smiling when Owen scowled at him, memories of last Christmas flitting through his mind.

"Behave, children" Jack laughed, thoroughly enjoying the exchange.

"I should get going. Don't want to keep the children waiting" Ianto said, hefting his present sack onto his shoulder and exiting the Hub.

TWTWTWTW

The shopping centre was crowded, as was to be expected in December. Dozens of children hung off the arms of their haggard-looking parents as they bounded from shop to shop, chattering excitedly and pointing out various items to their parents. Some cheery Christmas tune played over the loudspeakers – Ianto couldn't really tell which carol it was, but it certainly helped maintain the upbeat excitement spread throughout the centre. Brightly coloured decorations were strung from the high ceilings, fairy lights flickering cheerfully as he walked under them.

He quickly found Santa's Grotto, and walked over to a frazzled-looking woman, who was trying to keep a long line of children outside of the white picket gate. She gave huge sigh of relief when she spied Ianto walking towards her, present sack shifting down his shoulder.

"Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid we'd have to cancel today" she exclaimed in relief as she shook Ianto's hand. He gave her a friendly smile under his beard.

"Now, we couldn't have that, could we?" he grinned, turning to face the eager children who were lined up outside the gate.

"Hello there" Ianto greeted cheerfully, smiling wider when the children chorused a delighted "Hello Santa!" back at him.

Taking a seat in Santa's chair, he set the present sack down behind a fake tree, before turning to the first child who came through the gate and perched eagerly on his knee.

"Well then, have you been good this year?" Ianto asked, chuckling when the young boy grinned and nodded his head eagerly.

And so it went on for a good few hours: child after energetic child sat on his lap, telling him all the things they wanted that Christmas, before grinning wide, toothy grins at the camera-man, who snapped their picture in a rush of white flashes.

It was after the last child had climbed off his lap that he spotted her: her clothes hung off her – clearly hand-me-downs and they had definitely seen better days. Her dirty blonde hair was lank and wet, hanging in front of her eyes – which were flickering cautiously around her, a hidden sadness darkening their blue-green depths. She walked over to the grotto, barely raising her head as she read the sign displaying the photo times for that day. Ianto watched as her eyes saddened further in disappointment and she turned to walk away. He stood up and walked over to her, calling out before she had a chance to leave.

"Hello" he said kindly, kneeling down to her eye level as she turned back to face him. She gave him a shy little smile in return and let her gaze fall to the floor, focussing on his black boots.

"Would you like to sit with Santa?" he asked, keeping his voice soft and kind.

"I have no money, mister" she replied, voice as sad as her eyes.

Ianto put his hand on her shoulder, drawing her eyes back up to his.

"I insist. This one's on Mrs Claus" he whispered, smiling as the young girl's own smile widened, and she nodded, coming around the gate and walking over to the chair with him. Once he had sat down, she perched carefully on his knee.

The camera man smiled, a tiny shine to his eyes as he snapped their pictures, and as they waited for them to be printed, Ianto turned his face back to the young girl.

"Now tell me, what would you like for Christmas this year?" he asked, in a slightly different tone to the one he had been using on the other children before her.

She was quiet for a few moments, seemingly mulling it over. Ianto waited patiently for her to speak, and when she did, her voice had started to tremble ever so slightly.

"My family doesn't have much money. We live in a boarding house most of the time, but we can't afford the rent, the landlord wants to throw us out by Christmas" she mumbled the last bit, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.

Ianto's heart broke.

"All I want for Christmas is to have some money so that we can have a normal life. I want to go to school, but my parents can't afford the books or the uniforms, let alone the fees" she continued, glancing shyly back up at Ianto.

Ianto struggled to find a suitable answer.

"I will certainly see what I can do. I promise you-" he paused, not knowing the child's name. Seeing his hesitance, the girl smiled at him.

"Clarissa. Clarissa Thomas" she supplied helpfully.

Ianto smiled back at her.

"Well Clarissa, I will do whatever I can to help your family this Christmas" he continued, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Her face lit up with hope and she gave Ianto a hug.

"I know you will. Thank you, Santa" she whispered into his chest.

This time, Ianto let the tears slip down into his beard.

TWTWTWTW

It was gone five in the afternoon when Ianto finally managed to return to the deserted Hub. Slipping the red hat off his head and pulling off the beard, he walked over to Tosh's computer, pulling up the citizen records. He typed in the name 'Clarissa Thomas' and read over the file. Her story was true; she had been born into complete poverty, with a father who worked two poorly-paying jobs, and a mother who was almost completely incapacitated by a degenerative mental illness, so she couldn't hold a job for long. She had four younger siblings, and another who had died due to an infection when they were just months old. Their current address was listed on the file: an old Victorian boarding house down by the docks. He noted the location on a stray piece of paper left lying on the edge of the desk.

"It's a bit early for Santa to be showing up here" came a voice from behind him.

Ianto spun around, startled. Jack stood there, leaning casually against the door leading into his office, a curious expression on his face.

"I thought everyone had left" Ianto said, surprised.

"You know me, I never leave" Jack replied, walking towards him.

"What's this?" he asked, gesturing to the screen.

"A girl who came by the grotto this afternoon; I wanted to see if we could help her out this Christmas" Ianto replied, setting his pen down.

Jack said nothing as he read through Clarissa's file.

"What makes her different to the other homeless and poor kids living on the streets of Cardiff?" he questioned, turning back to face Ianto.

Ianto shrugged.

"She's not. But she's the only one who came and told me about her family and their situation. I want to do something to help her, Jack, isn't that what Christmas is supposed to be about?" he answered, silently challenging Jack to refute him.

He didn't. He just smiled even wider.

"I'll see what we can do."

Ianto nodded, and then blushed as Jack kissed him on the head.

"We should get you to be Santa more often, red really does suit you" he grinned, laughing as Ianto blushed harder and gave him a playful shove.

Later, as they lay in Jack's bunk, Ianto thought about what Jack had said: yes, he would like to do the Santa gig more often if it meant that he could be a source of hope and happiness in a lonely child's life.

And Jack was right, he thought as he rolled over, a tiny smile creeping onto his face, red DOES look good on him.


End file.
